downtown
progress
Over the next 100 years, there would be a lot of ebb and flow to the downtown area – from times of prosperity and lots of foot traffic, to leaner times when a large number of buildings were vacant. Pearl Brothers True Value Hardware – located at 617 Main St. – has long been a fixture of downtown Joplin, having opened in 1905. “My grandfather bought the store in the 1940s,” said Harold Berger. “I’ve worked here most of my life. “There was a time after Northpark Mall opened and the department stores moved out where there were lots of vacant buildings. There are still some, but nowhere near what it used to be.
A gathering of Joplin officials partake in a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Main Street. (Roger Nomer)
“But a lot of that traffic is coming back with the improvements made in the last few years, and with all of the apartments people are living in now. City Hall also brings a lot of traffic downtown.” That’s exactly the direction that the Downtown Joplin Alliance hopes to see continue.
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The not-for-profit organization is devoted to revitalizing downtown Joplin through a variety of means, from working to promote new and existing businesses to supporting the arts movement. “The question is how can we make downtown Joplin a more attractive place for residents, for tourists, for students, for potential employees?” said Trisha Patton, executive director of the alliance. “I think we’ve seen tremendous success in the last year and a half to two years in terms of interest level from the public.”
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Traffic flows through the southern end of Main Street. The Downtown Joplin Alliance hopes to have three parts of Main Street branded – downtown, midtown and southtown – and flow together. (T. Rob Brown)
Streetscaping projects over the years may mean that people think of “downtown” as a relatively small area; an idea that Patton wants to dispel.“There’s antiquated publishing that says the downtown district was A through 10th streets, and Wall to Kentucky,” she said.“As soon as I came in, I knew that would be shooting ourselves in the foot. (That definition) doesn’t include the Kitchen Pass, the Gryphon Building and several others.